French is the fifth language in the world. It is the only one, with English, to be present on all the continents of the planet. In 2022, there are 321 million French speakers in the world and no less than 255 million daily speakers as indicated by the Observatoire de la francophonie.
However, even within France, the French sometimes have trouble understanding each other.
Indeed, the territory is full of patois, regional languages and their share of words and expressions that go with them. If they are gradually disappearing, we can always count on our elders to remind us of these gems of the various local jargons.
In the slideshow below, discover some formulations that very rarely cross the borders of their region of origin.
Historically, France was a multilingual country. After the French Revolution, only French, the universal language of the Enlightenment and human rights, was to be used. “We had to unite the nation behind a single language,” reports Radio France.
This linguistic unity “has led to a veritable ‘cultural genocide’ in the French regions”, indicates the radio’s website.
Although these different dialects are no longer recognized as official languages, they have not completely disappeared over time. The French Constitution recognizes their heritage value.
“Since 1951 and the Deixonne law, certain regional languages have been introduced into education”, testifies the Belambra site.
It is therefore possible that some high school students choose your regional language as an option for the baccalaureate exams.
